Benthic habitats in marine environments, particularly in coastal areas, are increasingly being subjected to anthropogenic impacts. However, their vast spatial coverage and inaccessibility often make biodiversity assessment difficult for accurate monitoring and management. Although remote sampling systems are currently being used for monitoring by specialist service providers, there are no commercially available systems that allow for convenient and cost effective use by a broader scientific community and which incorporate an adequate level of spatial accuracy, capability to record large volumes of data quantitatively, functionality to ‘plug-and-play’ a wide range of scientific data sensors and adaptability to a wide range of scientific uses.